George Orwell’s 1984 is making its way back on to customers’ Kindles. After the controversy this summer revolving around Amazon’s remote deletion of Orwell’s works, Amazon is now returning the book to customers’ Kindles, annotations intact.
Those who were effected by the book removals should have received the following note from Amazon:
As you were one of the customers impacted by the removal of ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ from your Kindle device in July of this year, we would like to offer you the option to have us re-deliver this book to your Kindle along with any annotations you made,” reads the note. “You will not be charged for the book. If you do not wish to have us re-deliver the book to your Kindle, you can instead choose to receive an Amazon.com electronic gift certificate or check for $30
Although Amazon refunded the cost of the book when they deleted it, it’s nice to see that they are still offering to replace it for free. The option of $30 is also more than what people paid, but is probably meant to cover any extraneous damages the deletions may have created (oddly enough, Amazon is claiming this refund is unrelated to the ongoing lawsuit).
The reason Amazon is giving out free ebooks and cutting checks for $30 isn’t to cover “extraneous damages.” Rather, Amazon is signalling. It is sending the signal that it is no longer in the business of enforcing the copyright industry’s edicts at the expense of Kindle owners. Amazon is saying that it’s going to make things right *and* lose money every time it pulls an Orwell-style deletion. Customers can trust, therefore, that Amazon won’t be messing with its customers Kindles every time some publisher says so.
Cheers,
Tom
My wireless was off so my copy of 1984 was not deleted (I did get the 99 cent refunded)
I wish they had deleted my copy – I’d take the $30 (1984 is out of copyright in many countries, so easily findable online)
It’s good that Amazon offered to replace the book that was deleted. I’d gladly take the 30 bucks myself! Do you have any details regarding the lawsuit?